Digital Inclusion


Book Description

In this important book, Michael Crandall and Karen E. Fisher and a dozen contributors have made Digital Inclusion their rallying cry. They provide a framework for thinking about the effects of community technology on digital inclusion and present concrete examples of the impact successful community technology providers have had on individual users, communities, and society as a whole.




ICT for Education, Development, and Social Justice


Book Description

This volume provides examples of current developments on the role of ICT for education, development, and social justice within an international context. Chapters draw on advanced contemporary thinking from scholars and practitioners in the field to present case studies of how ICT can be used to promote sustainable development and social justice. Social justice is understood in a wide sense as the pursuit of democracy, justice and development in the struggle against any form of oppression; it is within this context that ICT is explored as a tool for social change. The objectives of this book are: - To analyze the philosophical, historical, political, and cultural backgrounds and contexts that are constitutive of contemporary challenges and tensions in the role of ICT for education, development, and social justice around the world; - To appreciate the contextual and international dimensions of the tensions and challenges faced by educators around the world and contribute to ongoing efforts to sketch a vision for addressing their needs; - To explore ways in which ICT in education can promote social justice and contribute toward sustaining communities around the world




Digital Literacy and Digital Inclusion


Book Description

Digital Literacy and Digital Inclusion: Information Policy and the Public Library examines the interrelationships between digital literacy, digital inclusion, and public policy, emphasizing the impacts of these policy decisions on the ability of individuals and communities to successfully participate in the information society. This book is the first detailed consideration of digital literacy and digital inclusion as policy problems and as core issues in information policy and libraries. The unique features of this book include drawing together the key themes and findings from the discourse on digital literacy and digital inclusion widely spread among many fields; analyzing digital literacy and digital inclusion as policy issues, both being driven and regulated by policy; building on a wealth of original research conducted by the authors using different quantitative and qualitative data collection approaches on four different continents when analyzing these issues, providing unique examples, case studies, and perspectives; using information behavior theory to provide important insights about these issues at individual, community, and political levels; providing recommendations to inform practice in libraries and help libraries to frame their advocacy for public policies that support literacy and inclusion; and providing policy recommendations to improve the creation and implementation of policy instruments that promote digital literacy and digital inclusion. The authors of this book have been involved in this research for many years, and their experience provides a broad view across the literature, inherent problems, and national perspectives. This breadth allows this book to offer comprehensive policy recommendations, solutions, and best practices for an area that is fragmented in discourse, practice, and policy.




Digital Inclusion


Book Description

The volume examines the risks and opportunities of a digital society characterized by the increasing importance of knowledge and by the incessant rise and pervasiveness of information and communication technologies (ICTs). At a global level, the pivotal role of ICTs has made it necessary to rethink ways to avoid forms of digital exclusion or digital discrimination. This edited collection comprises of chapters written by respected scholars from a variety of countries, and brings together new scholarship addressing what the process of digital inclusion means for individuals and places in the countries analyzed. Each country has its own strategy to guarantee that people can access and enjoy the benefits of the information society. While this book does not presume to map all the countries in the world, it does shed light into these strategies, underlining what each country is doing in order to reduce digital inequalities and to guarantee that socially disadvantaged people (in terms of disabilities, availability of resources, age, geographic location, lack of education, or ethnicity) are digitally included.




Handbook of Blockchain, Digital Finance, and Inclusion, Volume 1


Book Description

Handbook of Blockchain, Digital Finance, and Inclusion, Volume 1: Cryptocurrency, FinTech, InsurTech, and Regulation explores recent advances in digital banking and cryptocurrency, emphasizing mobile technology and evolving uses of cryptocurrencies as financial assets. Contributors go beyond summaries of standard models to describe new banking business models that will be sustainable and will likely dictate the future of finance. The volume not only emphasizes the financial opportunities made possible by digital banking, such as financial inclusion and impact investing, but it also looks at engineering theories and developments that encourage innovation. Its ability to illuminate present potential and future possibilities make it a unique contribution to the literature. - Explores recent advances in digital banking and cryptocurrency, emphasizing mobile technology and evolving uses of cryptocurrencies as financial assets - Explains the practical consequences of both technologies and economics to readers who want to learn about subjects related to their specialties - Encompasses alternative finance, financial inclusion, impact investing, decentralized consensus ledger and applied cryptography - Provides the only advanced methodical summary of these subjects available today




Technology and Social Inclusion


Book Description

Much of the discussion about new technologies and social equality has focused on the oversimplified notion of a "digital divide." Technology and Social Inclusion moves beyond the limited view of haves and have-nots to analyze the different forms of access to information and communication technologies. Drawing on theory from political science, economics, sociology, psychology, communications, education, and linguistics, the book examines the ways in which differing access to technology contributes to social and economic stratification or inclusion. The book takes a global perspective, presenting case studies from developed and developing countries, including Brazil, China, Egypt, India, and the United States. A central premise is that, in today's society, the ability to access, adapt, and create knowledge using information and communication technologies is critical to social inclusion. This focus on social inclusion shifts the discussion of the "digital divide" from gaps to be overcome by providing equipment to social development challenges to be addressed through the effective integration of technology into communities, institutions, and societies. What is most important is not so much the physical availability of computers and the Internet but rather people's ability to make use of those technologies to engage in meaningful social practices.







Maintaining Community in the Information Age


Book Description

By exploring the experiences of community activists and organizations working with information and communication technology (ICT) to build communities, this book offers a grounded and informed study of the role ICT plays in people's lives. The author emphasizes the importance of networks built around trust, shared spaces and local knowledge bases in the formation of significant relationships in contemporary Western societies and in doing so, questions many of the assumptions which inform the rhetorics of the information age.




Access Denied in the Information Age


Book Description

We live in an information society. Or so we are told. Access to unlimited information will promote equality for all. But is the information society really going to be like this? Who is going to reap the rewards of new information and communication technologies? Focusing on a theme of exclusion, Access Denied in the Information Age dispels the myths of the information society. The authors here take a few steps back from the hype and consider the real place of these new technologies in society.




Handbook of Research on Comparative Approaches to the Digital Age Revolution in Europe and the Americas


Book Description

The way we talk, work, learn, and think has been greatly shaped by modern technology. These lifestyle changes have made digital literacy the new written literacy, where those who are not able to use computers are unable to function and perform everyday tasks. The Handbook of Research on Comparative Approaches to the Digital Age Revolution in Europe and the Americas explores the new ways that technology is shaping our society and the advances it is bringing, along with potential drawbacks, such as human jobs being replaced by computers. This expansive handbook is an essential reference source for students, academics, and professionals in the fields of communication, information technology, sociology, social policy, and education; it will also prove of interest to policymakers, funding-agencies, and digital inclusion program developers. This handbook features a broad scope of research-based articles on topics including, but not limited to, computational thinking, e-portfolios, e-citizenship, digital inclusion policies, and information literacy as a form of community empowerment.